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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today delivered his maiden address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort by announcing the demise of the Planning Commission.
Modi, speaking extempore, proposed an ambitious financial inclusion 'Jan Dhan Yojana' plan to have the poorest of Indians open a bank account and an insurance cover of Rs one lakh. He exhorted the youth to ensure India does not have to rely on imports to meet its needs and invited the world to make India a manufacturing hub.
The PM also attempted to explain the reason for his being relatively quiet during his nearly three month long prime ministerial tenure. He described himself as an "outsider", somebody not part of Delhi's elite, who had spent time trying to understand the several governments and fiefdoms that exist within one single government in Delhi.
The feature of Modi's debut speech from the 16th Century red sandstone fort built during Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan's reign was his attempt to reach out to his opponents."We do not want to rule by the force of majority. We want walk ahead on the solid ground of consensus," the PM told a sizeable crowd, including senior politicians and bureaucrats, who had gathered to hear him speak on the occasion of 68th Independence Day.
The Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), along with its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies, commands a substantial majority in the Lok Sabha. The government is in woeful minority in the Rajya Sabha as the recently concluded Budget session reflected, particularly when the government had to concede to the opposition's demand to refer the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill to a Select Committee.
The PM also appealed to all Indians to adhere to a self-imposed "10-year moratorium" on communal and caste based violence. "Trust my words. Leave behind your past evil deeds. Let us have a 10-year moratorium on communal and caste violence," the PM said. He asked Maoists to drop their guns and pick up ploughs. In a first, Modi seemed to have persuaded his security apparatus to do away with the transparent bullet proof screen that has guarded most Prime Ministers as they have stood on the ramparts to address the nation.
It was at half past seven that Modi took the guard of honour and became the first PM born after independence to unfurl the national flag. Last year, Modi as the Gujarat CM had addressed his state from Ahmedabad, standing in front of the cutout of the Red Fort, within half an hour of the then PM Manmohan Singh's speech at Delhi's Red Fort. Modi's act had come for much criticism then. Today, Manmohan Singh sat in the front row of VIPs, alongside Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
The PM dwelled on other subjects, including the need for launching a programme Skill India, as promised in the BJP manifesto, to provide skills to India's multitude of unemployed youth. He expressed shame at female infanticide, the poor sex ratio and rampant cases of rape.
Modi started his hour long speech with an heartfelt ode to the makers of modern Indian democracy and framers of its Constitution, which today allowed "a small town boy from a poor family" to bow his head to the national flag on the ramparts of the Red Fort. In a statesmanlike effort, the PM acknowledged the effort all previous Prime Ministers and governments, including state governments, to nation building.
The PM invoked a Sanskrit sloka to underline his government's intent to take decisions through consensus. He said the country was a witness to the recently concluded session where the government took decisions in consensus with all parties. "We have achieved unprecedented success in taking the opposition along," he said, adding that the credit of this went not just to the ruling party but all MPs.
Modi said he is alien to the world of Delhi. He said the insider view that he has had of the functioning of the government has left him surprised. Modi said his comments shouldn't be interpreted from the prism of politics. The PM said he found conflicting fiefdoms in the government, departments involved in turf battles and taking these to the doors of the Supreme court. Modi said he has tried to break these walls between fiefs, to transform the government from merely an "assembled entity to an organic entity".
Modi asked all MPs to spend their development funds to construct toilets for girls in all schools to reduce the drop out rate of girl students, and said each MP as also MLA should adopt one village in the country to make it a model village. Modi said 'Jan Dhan Yojana' will target issuing the poorest a bank account, a debit card and accidental insurance of Rs one lakh, and would especially benefit families of those farmers who end their lives when they fail to return loans.
The PM, who as the Gujarat CM fought many a battle against the Planning Commission, announced the death of the plan panel. Modi said he respected the plan panel's contribution but much has changed in India with states and not the Centre becoming the pivots of economic activity. Modi, who as the Gujarat CM had to fight his own small battles with the plan panel, said an entity imbued with greater federal spirit would replace the Planning Commission. The new institution will have a new "sharir" (shape) and "atma" (spirit), where state governments will have a greater voice.
On economic growth, the PM appealed the youth as well as Non Resident Indians and the world at large to contribute to make India a manufacturing hub. He said India needed to balance its import and export baskets as also generate employment for its youth. "Come 'make in India', I appeal to the world," Modi said, adding "sell anywhere but manufacture here."
Stressing on the need for skill development in India, he also asked the youth to dream of manufacturing items like electronic goods, which after oil were the second most imported items, in India. He asked the youth to identity one item that India imported and try manufacture it in a small scale company. "But do not compromise on zero defect and zero effect," he said, elaborating that the goods should be of good quality or zero defect and the manufacturing process shouldn't pollute the environment, that is zero effect.
The PM spoke about the importance of e-governance and of digital India that would enable telemedicine to reach remotest areas with no doctors. He said just as earlier the railways linked India, now Information Technology and broadband networks played that role. Modi said e-governance was easy, effective and economical governance. He also underlined the need for promoting tourism as a growth sector, which gave jobs to street vendors, including tea sellers, which had a resonance for him as he was also once a tea seller.
But, the PM said, a big hindrance in the growth of tourism was lack of cleanliness in India.
Modi said 150-years of father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi's birth in 2019 should be marked with a commitment towards cleanliness. The PM said he will launch a 'Swachha Bharat Abhiyan' or a cleanliness mission on October 2, the birth anniversary of Gandhi. Modi said it was shameful that women in rural areas had to go for public defecation because of lack of toilets. "Can't we make toilets to protect the dignity of our women?" he asked.
Modi said there was a need to make "model villages". He said all MPs should pick one village and try make it into a 'model village'. He said he would launch the 'Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana' blueprint on the birth anniversary of 'JP' or Jayaprakash Narayan on 11 October. The PM requested state governments to ask MLAs that they also adopt one village and make it into a 'model village'.
Modi called upon the Saarc (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) member states to together work to alleviate poverty from the region. The PM said he was hopeful of positive results from his recent visits to Nepal and Bhutan and attending of his oath taking ceremony by heads of Saarc countries.
The PM ended his maiden speech from the Red Fort with the promise that he wasn't a 'pradhan mantri' or Prime Minister but 'pradhan sevak' or Prime Servant to the people and work untiringly for the betterment of the country. To the soldiers and security personnel, the PM said: "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
